Reaching down to the depths of my bag, fingers grazing the raw underside of the leather, I delve deeper until I feel the rigid filigreed metal of my grandmother’s gun. I trace the cool ivory handle with my fingers and in my mind, taking in the sure smooth certainty of its existence, imagine the recoil jolt that will come when I fire.

It is a solid pistol, heavier than it looks with the dainty paste diamonds inset into the side. A jewel for each word: ‘I-love-you’. A strange gift, though things were different then. The gun was a relic from the war; but it worked. I knew it did. And Danny knew it too. Read on.

I am delighted to be featured as part of this exciting project:

TubeFlash is original flash fiction inspired by the London Underground and a collection of vintage and contemporary brooches. Each station is paired with a brooch, with writers responding to the history and provenance of both the station and the brooch to
create a diverse collection of stories.

The brooches belong to Joanna Sterling, the mastermind behind the project.

I chose Gunnersby on the District Line, which was represented by this beautiful and unusual gun brooch.